President M. Reilly called the September Board Meeting to order at 2:06 PM at the Papa Gino’s in Natick. Eleven people were in attendance: President MARYANNE REILLY, Vice-President KENNETH BALLOU, Treasurer ROBERT MESSENGER, Clerk NICHOLAS STERLING, and Directors GEORGE MIRIJANIAN, ALEX RELYEA, BEEBE WIEGAND (departed prior to Publications vote), ROBERT E. KING (arrived 2:14 PM), STEPHEN DANN (arrived 2:24 PM), BRIAN MOTTERSHEAD (arrived 3:21 PM), and one guest: Nita Patel.

Agenda of the September Board Meeting were distributed by President M. Reilly.

Minutes of the August Board Meeting were distributed by K. Ballou (filling in for Clerk N. Sterling). * * MOTION (909-1) made by G. Mirijanian; the August Minutes were unanimously approved. * *

Scholastics: M. Reilly reported: (a) All the Spiegel Cup Qualifiers will feature two rated Novice Sections. (b) The 1st Spiegel Cup Qualifier will be held on Sunday, 10/4/09 at Sage School in Foxboro. (c) The 2nd Spiegel Cup Qualifier will be held on Saturday (this is unusual), 11/21/09 at BB&N School in Cambridge; B. Wiegand reported that all the practical details have been put in place, but a formal contract has not yet been signed. (d) The 3rd Spiegel Cup Qualifier will be held in Hudson on Sunday, 12/6/09, with a back-up snow date of Sunday, 12/20/09. (e) All the dates and places for January through March, including for the 4th Spiegel Cup Qualifier to be perhaps held at Weston High School, are still under discussion. The problem is that, with school vacations and weekend spring sports, there are not enough weekends available to prevent two events from being held on consecutive weekends.

Publications:
(a) (i) M. Donlan, the long-time editor of Chess Horizons, resigned abruptly the previous week. (ii) B. Mottershead resigned as Print Production Chair the previous day. (iii) K. Ballou agreed to see to the delivery of the current standing issue Chess Horizons to first the printer and then the mailer. * * MOTION (909-2) made by M. Reilly and seconded by A. Relyea to grant K. Ballou special dispensation to do this; Motion passed unanimously. * *
(b) Mark Kaprielian sent a lengthy and informative e-mail, distributed by M. Reilly, suggesting a new approach to the content and publication of Chess Horizons.
(c) (i) * * MOTION (909-3a) made by B. Messenger and seconded by A. Relyea to appoint G. Mirijanian Chair of the Editor Search Committee, with authority to appoint Members. (ii) * * MOTION (909-3b) made by B. Messenger and seconded by S. Dann to AMEND MOTION 909-3a to state that the Search Committee may, if it chooses, appoint an interim Editor responsible only for printing the January-March issue. (iii) * * MOTION (909-3c) made by B. Messenger to appoint M. Reilly, who initially opposed the selection of G. Mirijanian, Chair of the Editor Search Committee. The Motion was not seconded and died. * * (iv) * * Because M. Reilly was an interested party in the debate concerning the Search Committee Chair position, S. Dann CALLED FOR President M. Reilly, to avoid conflict of interest, to recuse herself temporarily as moderator of the Board Meeting and for Vice-President K. Ballou to act as moderator pro tem. Both parties agreed. (iv) The VOTE was taken on MOTION 909-3b; it passed with one dissenting vote (M. Reilly). * * (v) The VOTE was taken on MOTION 909-3a; it passed unanimously. * * B. Wiegand had left by this point and therefore did not take part in this vote. (vi) With the potential conflict of interest lifted, President M. Reilly reassumed the role of moderator of the Board Meeting. * *

Treasurer’s report was read by B. Messenger. Net loss for the General Fund as of 8/31/09: -$1344.77. * * MOTION (909-4) made by G. Mirijanian and seconded by K. Ballou to refund the $150 spent on advertising for the New England Open; Motion passed with one abstention (A. Relyea). * *

Tournaments: K. Ballou reported that a survey will be distributed to the Membership in October with the fliers for the Greater Boston Open (10/25/09 in Natick) and the Pillsbury Memorial Open (11/29/09 in Leominster).

Education: S. Dann reported: (a) he is conducting historical research; (b) he is still encountering difficulty setting up educational programs at schools and libraries and getting them matched up with volunteers who will run them; (c) he would like to see additional Education-related material put into Chess Horizons, and an Education website set up. In response to a question from B. Mottershead, it was stated that the Education Panel currently consists of S. Dann as Chair, N. Sterling, B. Wiegand, and M. Reilly; it is, however, an open group to which anyone who would like to contribute is welcome. Scheduling meetings is difficult due to conflicting time and location requirements among the Members.

Public Relations: none

LMCF: All sets have been picked up that need to be. The Needham school system may be receiving a large supply in the near future.

Prison: none

New Business: * * ADVANCE MOTION (909-5) made by K. Ballou; it reads as follows: “A player incurs a no-show forfeit in the second or later round of a MACA tournament may be assessed a fine up to the advance entry fee for the tournament. If a fine is assessed, the player may not be in future MACA events until the fine is paid.” There was discussion about whether the penalty should in fact be made binding and fixed, to be more consistent; it was agreed in the majority that no, TDs need individual discretion to deal with each case on its own terms. The VOTE was taken; the Motion passed with one dissenting vote (B. Mottershead). * *

President M. Reilly adjourned the September Board Meeting at 3:46 PM. The date, time, and place for the October Board Meeting is Sunday, 10/18/09, 3:00 PM at the Papa Gino’s in Natick.